Return the Diamond
by Jak Pickens
Summary: 'Return the diamond,' he says? Yeah right. She stole it fair and square. Why would she return it, just because he asked her to? And why would he ask that if he knew she wouldn't? What was Bruce Wayne playing at? (Final Night-of-Episode-Oneshot) (5x12) (BatCat)


**A/N: My final Night-of-Episode-Oneshot…wow. I hope to make it the best one yet. So here's my Night-of-Episode-Oneshot for Episode 12 of Season 5, the final episode of **_**Gotham**_**. I hope you enjoy!**

**Return the Diamond**

"Yeah, right," Selina drawled as she walked off the roof.

Ten seconds prior, Bruce Wayne had been standing not five feet behind her. She'd had half a mind to take her whip and wrap it around his neck. But, then again, if he really was this 'caped crusader' running around, she didn't exactly want to tangle with him.

At least, not in that sense…

She'd told him everything she needed to, explained exactly why he was such a jerk and how he wasn't just gonna walk back into her life.

She shook her head, knowing that she was bullshitting herself.

Of course he was going to walk back into her life. Ten years or not, this was what they did. He came and went as he pleased.

Selina scoffed, muttering to herself, "I wonder who taught him that."

Then again, she'd never left him for more than a few months at the most. He'd left Gotham for a decade, left _her_ for a decade, without a word. And he had the gall to come back here and judge her? 'Return the diamond,' he says.

Why should she? She stole it fair and square. And if he didn't want her taking it, then why hadn't he just stopped her?

'Return the diamond', yeah right. Why would she ever do that? This was her livelihood, thanks to him. She stole to survive. She didn't have billions of dollars to dispose of at her every beck and call.

Although, if things had gone differently, if he hadn't left, maybe she would've…

But that didn't happen. He left her.

But he came back…and he said he would never leave Gotham again.

She knew what he meant by that, even if he couldn't admit it. Gotham was _her_ home. She could never leave. Thereby, if he never left Gotham again, he implied he'd never leave her again.

But why would she care? She survived without him. Hell, she was thriving! Kind of…

So she couldn't just 'Return the diamond' like he'd told her to. She was counting on that paycheck. He'd grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth. What did he know about surviving on the streets?

Then again, that was also bullshit. He'd lived with her for two months, not once touching his trust fund. She'd originally suspected he'd break within the first three days. But he hadn't. In fact, he'd thrived there, stealing wallets and ripping off mobsters. Hell, while he was there she'd lived like a queen compared to normal. Even with two mouths to feed instead of one, they always seemed to have surplus what they needed.

So he did know what it was like to survive on the streets? So what?

She'd worked hard for that diamond. And the gas that revealed the laser grid wasn't cheap! The claws she'd used to cut open the glass weren't either.

So why should she 'Return the diamond'?

What gave him the right to tell her what to do, after all he'd done, all the damage he'd caused.

What she'd told him, not caring about the money or their situation, just wanting him; they were some of the truest words she'd ever spoken.

"Whenever you need me," she muttered to herself, traipsing across a rooftop.

She'd meant it. She was full and willing to go with him wherever he went. She would've gone with him to the ends of the world and back. It couldn't have been worse than the hell they called home. And if they were together, who was gonna stop them? They'd beat everyone who crossed them, Galavan, the Court of Owls, the League of Shadows, Jerome, Jeremiah, Bane, Nyssa 'The Bitch' al Ghul (as Selina called her), everyone.

And he ended it.

'It was the only way,' he said.

That may've been true, but he could've done it with her.

Whatever he'd learned for ten years could've helped her, too. And they would've been together while doing it.

But no. He left.

"Return the diamond," Selina mocked, dropping down from the building she'd just landed on and crawling down the fire escape. "As if I'd ever…"

The words got caught in her throat. She'd just walked straight to the museum where she'd stolen the diamond.

Reaching into her pouch, she removed the beautiful gem.

She groaned, stepping into the building and heading towards the back room.

Why was she doing this? She'd stolen it fair and square, it was hers.

Yet, she found herself walking through the museum, passing by dozens of expensive objects just ripe for the taking.

She made her way to the far back exhibit where several glass cases stood.

She froze, staring across the room where the diamond had originally sat.

Something else was in its place.

She walked towards it, removing the glass covering and staring at the box. It was a small, cubical, wooden crate, probably a foot and a half on each side, nothing special about it. On top of the crate, however, was a note:

_Dear Cat,_

_I hope this makes up for something._

_Love,_

_-B_

She stuck the note into her pouch and opened the crate.

Her breathe caught. The crate was filled to the top with neatly stacked envelopes, all with the same name written on the back.

_Selina_

She shook her head in disbelief, picking one up and random and pulling out a sheet of notebook paper.

Scrawled on it in Bruce's familiar handwriting was:

_Dear Selina,_

_I'm ready to come home. It's been a long time, far too long. I miss you._

_Today, my master wanted me to practice killing blows with a sparring partner. But he wanted it to be full contact, full risk. I refused._

_Like I said before, they don't like it when I say no. The punishment was the usual. You got me through it, like always. Without you, there's no way I would've been able to survive this place._

_I'll be home soon._

_I love you,_

_-B_

She felt tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She checked the date: Seven days prior.

She dug into the box, fishing out an older letter from three years prior.

It read:

_Dear Selina, _

_I wish I could talk to you. I'm preparing for my first solo ascent of the mountain, and I'll have to spend two months in solitary. Of course, I'll still make sure to write every day. _

_I know I can do this. It's going to be hell, but you'll get me through it like you always do. _

_I'll be home soon._

_I love you,_

_-B_

Her torso was shaking with silent sobs.

She dug even deeper into the pile, her hand scraping the bottom of the crate before she grabbed another letter.

_Dear Selina,_

_I finally found Nanda Parbat. The people here don't seem to like me too much. They keep calling me a 'yuchun' and a 'bairen'. I'm not sure what either of those mean, but I don't think they're good._

_I'll keep trying. They have to let me in eventually. _

_But I know I can do this. I have to do it for your sake. You'll get me through this, you always do._

_I'll be home soon._

_I love you,_

_-B_

He'd written that two weeks after he left Gotham.

She shook her head, unable to read one more of those letters.

'I'll be home soon'… 'I love you'?

How could he say that? He _left _her.

She felt used. He'd used her to put both of them through that, as justification for leaving her behind.

Yet, if he'd written a letter every day, he'd written over three thousand of them.

What kind of insane person could do that? Write letters to someone who'll never receive them, write letters to someone who'll never respond.

Actually, scratch that.

She was gonna respond.

She found him at the Manor, quietly eating a slice of cake by himself in the dark kitchen.

"You gonna finish that?" Selina asked. There was no need announcing her presence, first. He knew she was there.

He slowly spun around in the stool, turning to face her.

He shook his head. "No. I take it you returned the diamond?"

She rolled her eyes, pulling the diamond from her pouch and tossing it to him. She shook her head. "I'll do it tomorrow. For now…I have other, more pressing matters to attend to," she said, stalking forwards and wrapping her whip around the back of his neck.

He grinned, setting the diamond on the counter behind him. "Like what?"

"You know damn well what," she stated, pulling his mouth up to hers.

She'd return the diamond later.

For now, she three thousand letters to respond to and ten years of lost time to make up.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little drabble. I've loved doing these for Season 5 and I'm sad to see the 'Night-of-Episode-Oneshot' theme come to an end. But I'm not done writing for this fandom, not even close. So thanks for reading and ciao for now!**

**(And if you'd be so kind as to Review, it'd be very much appreciated!)**


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